Board Reattachment for Circulating Collections: A Feasibility Study

Changes in bookbinding during the nineteenth century lead to many
inherent problems and the eventual, even rapid failure of the
binding. Joint failure, resulting in board detachment of tight joint
bindings of this era, is perhaps the most noticeable result of these
changes. As the industrial revolution was taking off at the end of
the eighteenth century, a tremendous increase in publishing to meet
the demands of an ever expanding reading public forced bookbinders
to develop more rapid methods of binding. Mechanized bookbinding was
still at least fifty years away, yet several shortcuts in binding,
including revised methods of recessed cord sewing, board attachment,
and the purchase of cheap, thin leather, were selected to increase
productivity of hand binderies. These streamlining effects
contributed to the eventual decline of quality hand bookbinding.

Any one of these shortcuts alone might not have caused the large
numbers of joint failures, but together they have kept repairers and
restorers busy. Traditionally, the only treatment for detached
boards was to either completely rebind the book or to do a leather
rebacking. A leather rebacking did nothing to solve the inherent
problems in the binding, but simply replaced the broken leather with
equally thinly pared leather and no other means of support.

The technique of reattaching boards to tight joint books has
become a common feature in special collections conservation labs but
is less commonly used as a repair technique in circulating
collections repair operations. Yet, circulating collections contain
large numbers of materials bound with tight joints. The accepted
repair for these books in circulating collections tends to be
recasing with a French groove. It is generally believed that this is
the only repair which is strong enough to withstand circulation.
Because of this practice we are losing many materials which may be
unique. This paper briefly looks at the development of board
reattachment techniques since the 1960's and closely examines the
methods of board reattachment developed by Anthony Cains of Trinity
College Dublin, Don Etherington, and David Brock. Tests indicate
that carefully selected tight joint materials repaired using a board
reattachment method are strong enough to survive the rigors of
circulating collections.

Board reattachment is a stable, minimally invasive, relatively
fast technique that can be applied to circulating collections. When
used appropriately, it can be a valuable addition to treatment
options in circulating collections to save time and money, increase
production, and help maintain bibliographic integrity in a rapidly
disappearing binding style: tight joint books.

Carolyn Horton's Board Reattachment

In the 1960's at the Grolier Club Library, Carolyn Horton
developed a method of reattaching boards without doing a full
leather rebacking.1 A piece of colored
cloth was used to make a hinge which was adhered on the inside of
the covers. The procedure consisted of placing a bead of PVA along
the gutter of the first two or three leaves to give a strong base
for the cloth. The cloth was then adhered with PVA to the shoulder
and folded over to be exactly level with the same shoulder. The
pastedown was lifted on the board and a small area of board removed
to accommodate the cloth thickness. Then the cloth was adhered to
the board and the board positioned on the book. Finally, PVA was
worked into the gap between the board and the fold of the cloth to
prevent the board from moving about. The final product would have
looked as such (fig. 1).

The cloth hinge marked a departure from the practice of
conservation as restoration to conservation as stabilization. The
problem was no longer being solved by repeating the structure with
its inherent flaws, but was being repaired with strong, stable
materials and minimal intervention which allowed for a faster, yet
long lasting repair. The inherent drawback of this method is the
stiffness of the cloth and PVA which presented a breaking edge at
the shoulder and additionally in small volumes a stiffness in their
opening. This method, although not widely used anymore for these
reasons, has been the basis for many other treatments that have been
developed.

Board Slotting

In the 1970's, at the Library of Congress, Christopher Clarkson
began experimenting with his board slotting technique. Clarkson was
concerned with the time and invasiveness of leather rebacking,
especially on very slick, gilded decorative bindings with doublures.
He wanted to develop a method to reattach boards without affecting
the look of the binding inside or out. By attaching a linen hinge to
the spine and then slotting it into a notch sawed into the board, a
nearly invisible repair could be made. The procedure of board
slotting can be summarized as follows:2

Lift spine leather.

Attach linen hinge to spine with paste and stiffen the tongue
with paste or glue.

Select a saw blade to correspond to the thickness of repair
cloth and the proper depth for the board.

Place the book board into a holding jig and create the diagonal
slot along the board leaving approximately 1/4 inch at head and
tail.

Cut the stiffened linen tongue to the depth of the slot and
round its corners to correspond to the rounded corners created by
both ends of the saw cut.

Place a pressing tin up against the shoulder of the book.

Open the slot and spread paste on both sides.

Squeeze out any excess paste.

Paste up both sides of the tongue.

Insert tongue into slot.

Set board and press.

In order to proceed with this technique, the board must be thick
enough and strong enough to withstand the sawing. Specialized
equipment and extensively trained personnel are required to execute
this rather involved treatment. These factors tend to make this a
less than attractive procedure for circulating collections.

Joint Tacketing

A more utilitarian exploration into board reattachment did not
begin until the 1980's. In 1980, the Long Room Project at Trinity
College Dublin was begun by Anthony Cains. One of the treatments in
this ongoing project was the reattaching of book boards using a
method devised by Cains. Joint tacketing was developed as a
temporary measure to allow the binding to function normally until
more in-depth conservation treatments could be performed. The
procedure may be summarized as follows:3

If the book has a hollow back, the cover spine piece is easily
removed; on a tight back, the spine piece is lifted, the spine
cleaned and relined.

If the book has a tight back that cannot be easily removed, or
the leather is too degraded to lift, make "L" shaped cuts at each
point where the tacket will be and lift to make small doors for the
thread to sit.

Tip a strip of Japanese tissue to the shoulder.

Make holes through the Japanese tissue and shoulder at a 45
degree angle.

Insert a loop of linen thread through the holes from the
shoulder side, bring loose ends through loop and tighten.

Mark boards for corresponding holes. Make two holes in the board
at each tacket point. Begin in the center of the board thickness and
go through to the inside of the board at an angle. The two holes
should begin in the same spot and angle away from each other to end
approximately one quarter inch apart.

Lace one end of the thread through each hole, tie with a square
knot with the board open approximately 120 degrees.

Adhere Japanese tissue hinge over the tacket.

This method is now beginning to be used widely in the
conservation of both special collections and circulating collections
for tight joint books. One requirement is a shoulder substantial and
strong enough to sew through. Another is that the board must also be
stable and thick enough to withstand the drilling or punching of the
holes and subsequent use after being sewn to the text block. It is a
quick and relatively easy procedure to learn and master and, if the
book is appropriately selected, a strong repair is the result.
Because of this, it is a welcome addition to circulating
collections.

Don Etherington's Japanese Tissue Hinge

Board reattachment has progressed steadily since the 1980's.
Along with joint tacketing, other methods have come into use in
special collections. Two separate methods using Japanese tissue have
been developed by Don Etherington and David Brock. Most commonly
used is the Etherington method, summarized below.4

Adhere a hinge of Japanese paper so that one torn edge is at the
tip of the shoulder and the rest of the hinge extends onto the
textblock.

Select a solid dyed Japanese paper to match the leather and tear
two strips one half inch longer than the boards and of a width
approximately one quarter inch.

If the leather is degraded, consolidate.

Position the board on the book and weight. Adhere the Japanese
tissue across the joint.

Let the outer hinge dry then turn in head and tail.

Open the cover and adhere the inner Japanese tissue hinge. Let
dry open.

Coat the outer Japanese tissue hinge with a microcrystaline wax
to give a more leathery look.

Etherington describes his method thus, "The rationale for
repairing bound books broken just at the joints with a strong
Japanese paper instead of a pared strip of leather comes down to one
word, strength. The application of two strips of Japanese paper, one
outside and one inside, gives a very strong board attachment to the
spine and is a method of minimal intervention to the original
binding."5 This technique is best used on
tight joint books where the spine is intact, the board covering in
good condition and the size of the book does not exceed the standard
octavo dimensions. In an informal survey of conservation labs doing
board reattachments, this was found to be by far and away the most
popular technique for octavo, or smaller sized books.

David Brock's Japanese Tissue Method

Also in use, however, is the Brock method. Brock presented this
technique in an informal session at AIC in 1991 and is summarized
below.

Tear a strip of medium weight dyed Japanese tissue.

Tip the hinge to the shoulder so that the torn edge is at the
top of the shoulder.

Make a series of paried holes along the shoulder at a 45 degree
angle.

Using a thin linen thread, starting on the shoulder side, sew
through the holes all along going in and out.

Fold the Japanese tissue over on itself and run a bead of
adhesive to adhere it to the shoulder.

Cut the loops of thread on the spine, fray out and adhere.

Lift the covering material on the board. Set the board in place
and weight.

Adhere Japanese tissue to the lifted area on board. Allow to
dry.

Open the board. Tear a strip of Japanese tissue to fit in the
exposed hinge and adhere.

Although this treatment is not complex, it must be carefully done
in order to get a solid repair. When done by a less experienced
person, the board has a tendency to become unfixed over time because
the pasted fold in the tissue may not have been thoroughly adhered
to the board edge.

Testing

For the purposes of this research, three board reattachment
techniques were tested: Cains' joint tacketing, Etherington's
Japanese tissue method and Brock's Japanese tissue method. Joint
tacketing and Etherington's Japanese tissue method were selected
because they appear to be the more commonly used techniques in
conservation labs associated with special collections and
circulating collections. Brock's method was chosen because its
technique appears to be a combination of the methods of joint
tacketing and Etherington's Japanese tissue.

Six tight joint books were selected from an assortment of
discarded collection material. Two books with detached boards were
treated for each method. All six books differed in weight,
dimension, age, condition and materials. When choosing the two books
for each method, books of similar dimension but different weight and
material (leather or cloth) were selected. Each set of two also had
one book with a tight spine and one with a hollow spine. The use of
contrasting books allowed for an assessment of each method and the
considerations for its use since all six came from a circulation
collection. Also for comparison, the front boards were adhered with
PVA while the back boards were adhered with paste. This was done to
see if, in testing, it could be determined whether the adhesive
played a significant role in the strength of the repair.

Since the focus of this paper is board reattachment for
circulating collections, aesthetics were not the first priority.
Dyed Japanese tissue was used, but such niceties as lifting little
doors in the tight leather spines and using the microcrystaline wax
to create a more compatible look, were not done. Otherwise, the
techniques as summarized above were followed to repair the books
selected.

The six repaired books were sent to be tested at Information
Conservation, Inc.'s Conservation Division in Brown Summit, NC. It
is hoped by assessing the resulting condition of these books, a
method of board reattachment specific to circulating collections can
start to be developed.

The Universal Book Tester (UBT) designed by the Barrow
Laboratories was used to test the books and monitoring was done by
Harry Campbell, Chief Conservator at ICI. The UBT, as described by
"Barrow Testing Lab" in The Title Page number 5, 1992, is designed
to closely simulate the treatment of the book in real life. The book
to be tested in the UBT is placed in the bottom of a slanted tray
lined with a metal fabric screen. This tray can be rotated at
different speeds and inclined at different angles. As the tray
rotates, the book receives regulated impact stress on all four
sides, four drops (one for each side) equaling one rotation, causing
stress at the hinges as the volume drops on its boards. As a result
of the size of the tray, smaller books are dropped at a greater
distance than large books. The actions of the UBT simulates those
stresses on a book which receives heavy use would normally be
exposed to in a circulating collection: pulling the headcap, sliding
off the shelf, dropping onto a book truck or into box, and sliding
across a table or down a book drop. Through such use, a book would
show resulting abrasions at the shoulder, spine and cover, failure
of the internal hinge or joint.

The selection of the UBT came after a search of various
mechanized testing apparatus. Although not ideal for the strict
testing of the joint of the reattached board it gave the best
overall simulation of a book in a circulating collection. Perhaps a
better test would be a mechanism which would open and close the
cover until failure. Although the UBT simulates a book receiving
heavy use, the results of this test may carefully be used to
estimate the wear given to a medium or low use book. The longer the
particular book and related reattachment method lasted in the UBT,
it is possible the technique would better hold up to medium or low
use while in circulation.

An in-depth comparison of all board reattachment methods cannot
be made as a result of this testing. To compare each method with the
other, equality in the soundness and physical characteristics of the
books must be present. The best option would be to find a large
edition of books, all of the same title from one edition and the
same collection. Within such a set, the physical characteristics
will be equal, and if the books are from the same collection, the
condition would be very similar.

Results

Overall, the books that held up the best to testing were those
whose boards were reattached with the Etherington Japanese tissue
method and by Cains' joint tacketing. Although all three methods had
some problems, they appear to have come from the poor selection of
books for testing rather than a direct failure of the method.

In assessing each method, new considerations specific to
circulating collection material cropped up. The problem that
appeared with the Etherington method when put through the UBT was
not so much in the breakage of the hinge, but in the separation of
the tipped-on endsheet to the text block resulting in the text block
falling out of the case with the boards still in tact. The text
block fell out of both the tight back and hollow test books since,
in essence after the repair, the book had a case binding with the
text block held in with Japanese tissue rather than a linen hinge. A
review of the history of use and a reinforcement of the endsheet to
text block attachment is necessary for those books to be repaired in
this manner for circulating collections. No conclusions can be made
on paste versus PVA since only one joint broke and the tissue did
not release from either book.

When considering the results of the testing done on the books
that had been repaired using joint tacketing, it was found that it
is important to look at the shoulder and the board. The book must
have a sufficient shoulder or, if the shoulder is small, ensure that
the paper is strong enough to prevent the thread from pulling though
in use. In the two books tested, one book had a small shoulder of
weak paper and the front cover pulled through the shoulder after 10
seconds, or only 3 drops, in the UBT. The second book, with a
substantial shoulder and very stable materials, lasted 55 minutes,
or 1100 drops, in the UBT, at which point the thread broke.

The method that does not appear to be viable for circulating
collections is David Brock's. The longest either book lasted in the
UBT was six minutes. Not only did the tissue tear but also both
books showed a failure in the thread, either broken or pulled
through the shoulder. The problem area appears to be in the adhesion
of the Japanese tissue to itself in the shoulder. In circulation,
this area will be the first to come loose, causing the board to sit
improperly on the book and be more vulnerable to damage or loss.

Conclusion

For octavo or smaller books, the method that appears to work the
best is Etherington's Japanese tissue method. It is a repair that
will not create much bulk in a smaller volume, yet it will be strong
enough to withstand low to moderate use if the volume is properly
selected. The covering material should be stable and the endsheet to
text block attachment should be sound before using this method in a
circulating collection. If the material is not stable, for example
if the leather is red rotting, the repair will not be stable enough
to withstand circulation. Also, if the end sheet to text block
attachment is weak or not reinforced, the strength of the repair
will cause failure to the attachment in circulation. From the
volumes tested, the weight of the book does not exert as great an
influence on the stability of the repair as would be expected. The
larger, heavier volume actually held up better under testing than
the lighter one. Although not the original intention of the repair,
this method appears to function quite well on tight joint cloth
bindings as well as leather.

For larger books in a circulating collection, if the shoulder is
of sufficient size and strength, Cains' joint tacketing is the
preferred method. Smaller books with a minimal shoulder do not hold
up under testing as well as a book which has a sufficient shoulder
through which to sew. Not only shoulder size but also the stability
of the shoulder should be considered in all books. If the paper of
the text block is weak or brittle, the strength and relative
sharpness of the thread used will cause the repair to tear through
the shoulder. Finally, the condition of the board must be stable
enough to withstand the repair. If the boards of any volume being
considered for this repair are brittle or very thin, another method
of repair should be considered. When preparing to do this repair,
consider the thickness of the thread as well. For quarto or larger
sized books, a heavier thread would be appropriate to give extra
strength.

The Brock tissue method does not appear viable for circulating
collections due to the apparent rapid failure of the adhered fold
and the vulnerability of the board resulting from its failure.

The development of a board reattachment method specifically for
circulating collections should be possible with additional testing.
The tests should be designed to compare the three methods to each
other and to determine their limitations. Any method developed would
be beneficial for the field to promote less invasive treatments in
collections maintenance and to preserve tight joint bindings for
future researchers.

"The Structure, Manufacture and Mechanism of
Deterioration of Bookbinding Leathers: Part 1, The Structure of
Leather," In Conservation of Library and Archive Materials and
the Graphic Arts: Abstracts and Preprints, Cambridge 1980.
ed. Guy Petherbridge. London: Institute of Paper Conservation and
the Society of Archivists, 1980.

Middleton, Bernard. A History of English
Craft Bookbinding Technique. London: The Holland Press,
1988.

Back hinge split (almost full length of joint) prior to testing
tissue appears to have been too tight

Placed back side down in tray

TITLE:

University of Chicago Record #4

MATERIAL

Unfilled Cloth

LENGTH:

23.6 cm

WIDTH

19.4 cm

WEIGHT

979.39 g

METHOD OF REATTACHMENT:

Etherington Japanese Tissue

NUMBER OF ROTATIONS TO FAILURE:

approx. 1040 rotations (about 50 minutes)

FAILURE TO:

FRONT BOARD

X

BACK BOARD

FAILURE TO:

HEAD

TAIL

CENTER

X

IF JOINT TACKETED, FAILURE CAUSED BY:

THREAD BREAKAGE

THREAD TEARING THROUGH BOARD

THREAD TEARING THROUGH SHOULDER

INTERIOR JAPANESE TISSUE TEAR

IF ETHERINGTON JAPANESE TISSUE, FAILURE CAUSED BY:

INNER TISSUE HINGE TEAR

HEAD

TAIL

OVERALL

X

OUTER TISSUE HINGE TEAR

HEAD

TAIL

X

OVERALL

INNER TISSUE PULLED AWAY

BOARD

FLY LEAF

OUTER TISSUE PULLED AWAY

BOARD

SPINE

IF BROCK JAPANESE TISSUE FAILURE CAUSED BY:

TISSUE HINGE TEAR

HEAD

TAIL

OVERALL

OUTER BOARD

INNER HINGE

THREAD FAILURE

BROKEN

TORN THROUGH SHOULDER

CONDITIONS OF BOTH JOINTS UPON FAILURE:

Back joint completely split. Front joint OK. Both inner hinges
OK

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Both boards detached (prior to
joint break) at flyleaf tipped to text block.
Book was backside down in UBT tray, some abrasion evident.

TITLE:

Derecho Romano

MATERIAL

Leather

LENGTH:

22 cm

WIDTH

14.4 cm

WEIGHT

392.3 g

METHOD OF REATTACHMENT:

Etherington Japanese Tissue

NUMBER OF ROTATIONS TO FAILURE:

700 rotations (35 minutes)

FAILURE TO:

FRONT BOARD

BACK BOARD

FAILURE TO:

HEAD

TAIL

CENTER

OVERALL

IF JOINT TACKETED, FAILURE CAUSED BY: (Joints OK - see comments)

THREAD BREAKAGE

THREAD TEARING THROUGH BOARD

THREAD TEARING THROUGH SHOULDER

INTERIOR JAPANESE TISSUE TEAR

IF ETHERINGTON JAPANESE TISSUE, FAILURE CAUSED BY:

INNER TISSUE HINGE TEAR

HEAD

TAIL

OVERALL

OUTER TISSUE HINGE TEAR

HEAD

TAIL

OVERALL

INNER TISSUE PULLED AWAY

BOARD

FLY LEAF

OUTER TISSUE PULLED AWAY

BOARD

SPINE

IF BROCK JAPANESE TISSUE FAILURE CAUSED BY:

TISSUE HINGE TEAR

HEAD

TAIL

OVERALL

OUTER BOARD

INNER HINGE

THREAD FAILURE

BROKEN

TORN THROUGH SHOULDER

CONDITIONS OF BOTH JOINTS UPON FAILURE:

Joint OK

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

After 20 minutes (400 rotations)
text blocks beginning to split and pulling away from spine lining.
After 35 minutes (700 rotations) text block completely split away
between 1st and last signatures
Book placed back side down in tray.

TITLE:

Annual Reports 1907-09

MATERIAL

Buckram

LENGTH:

23 cm

WIDTH

14.9 cm

WEIGHT

1676.6 g

METHOD OF REATTACHMENT:

Brock Japanese Tissue

NUMBER OF ROTATIONS TO FAILURE:

20 rotations (1 minute)

FAILURE TO:

X

FRONT BOARD

X

BACK BOARD

FAILURE TO:

HEAD

TAIL

CENTER

X

OVERALL

IF JOINT TACKETED, FAILURE CAUSED BY:

THREAD BREAKAGE

THREAD TEARING THROUGH BOARD

THREAD TEARING THROUGH SHOULDER

INTERIOR JAPANESE TISSUE TEAR

IF ETHERINGTON JAPANESE TISSUE, FAILURE CAUSED BY:

INNER TISSUE HINGE TEAR

HEAD

TAIL

OVERALL

OUTER TISSUE HINGE TEAR

HEAD

TAIL

OVERALL

INNER TISSUE PULLED AWAY

BOARD

FLY LEAF

OUTER TISSUE PULLED AWAY

BOARD

SPINE

IF BROCK JAPANESE TISSUE FAILURE CAUSED BY:

X

TISSUE HINGE TEAR

HEAD

TAIL

X

OVERALL

OUTER BOARD

INNER HINGE

X

THREAD FAILURE

X

BROKEN

TORN THROUGH SHOULDER

CONDITIONS OF BOTH JOINTS UPON FAILURE:

Back board torn away--thread
failed; inner hinge torn; endleaf torn; separation where endleaves
are tipped to text--front and back